Abp Andrew Yeom Soo-jung of Seoul, Korea, says emphatically
that the Word of God is the driving force of the New Evangelization.
We agree on the supreme importance of the Bible, the very
word of God. The Holy Spirit, the agent of evangelization,
speaks to us through the Bible. Our model for the “methodology”
of the New Evangelization is based on what the Bible relates
about the day of Pentecost.

It is unfortunate that most Catholics do not know the Bible.
But it cannot remain this way. We cannot truly know Christ
unless we know the Bible, where we meet Jesus in an intimate
way. We cannot live Christ unless we know what the Bible tells
us about true Christian living. We cannot effectively share
Christ if we do not understand the way the Holy Spirit works,
as manifested in the book of Acts about the growth of the
Church.

Thus LCSC, for us the movement that promotes the New Evangelization,
has four pillars, and Live the Word is one of these pillars.
This is our Bible apostolate. Specifically, we promote the
Liturgical Bible Study method of getting into the scriptures.
If we do not do so, can we really do the work of the New Evangelization?

Notice too that all our teachings in our formation programs
and conferences are always very much based on the Bible. Our
books are replete with Biblical passages. We have more than
enough provision for entering fruitfully into the word of
God. We just need to make use of these.

SEOUL,
December 13, 2013 (Zenit.org) - While celebrating the first
week of Advent, Seoul Archbishop Andrew Yeom Soo-jung released
his new Pastoral Letter for the year 2014.

Since
the Word of God is a strong driving force of new evangelization,
the Archdiocese of Seoul has been working through every pastoral
field to feature the importance of the Bible. There are guidelines
of various programs proposed by the Archdiocese including
daily reading and meditation, Bible transcription, Bible read-through,
and Bible studies.

The
following is a summary of the Archbishop Yeom’s 2014
Pastoral Letter.

New
Age, New Evangelization

-The
Word of God is the driving force of New Evangelization

In
order to strengthen the feeble faith of the Korean Church,
I have presented you all with a measure of five slogans: a
faith that is started by the Word of God, a faith that sprouts
from prayers, a faith that is strengthen by the teachings
of the Church, a faith that is united through the Holy Mass,
and a faith that bears fruits through the actions of love.

We
have to continue to work hard so that the basis of faith that
we have learned during the ‘Year of Faith’ stays
in us. To be more concrete, our Archdiocese has planned to
put the five slogans in action, and we will focus on one slogan
a year.

In
the year 2014, we will put emphasis on “the Word of
God.” As Paul the Apostle said, faith comes from hearing
the message, and the message is heard through the word about
Christ.

Read
the Holy Bible daily in your life. Before going to Mass, give
yourself some time to go through the Readings and the Gospel.
Let the words sink down into your heart.

Priests
have the duty to deliver the message of God to the faithfuls.
It is important for priests to put Jesus Christ in the center
of every homily, and to avoid any abstract or irrelevant speech
that draws the faithfuls’ attention to the priest himself
instead of the message of the Gospel.

The
Word of God is the bread of life. But the interpretation of
the Bible outside the Church may easily lead to misunderstandings.
One should join in Bible programs that are officially approved
by the Church.

The
new evangelization of the Church and the world, is that we
live with hope and joy in Christ and in the Word of God.